Scrasamax:
I like the Battletech system for building war machines, I'm familiar with it, and I like the basic functionality of using percentages for components, like the chassis.

But I want to change things in it, the mech is no real match for a tank, they are big targets and expensive as hell.

The Hardpoint System

aircraft can bolt on different equipment in pods or weapons, and this ranges from electronics to gun pods, to fuel tanks to missiles. Why can't a mech do the same? If it has two hands it should be able to pick up and use mecha sized weapons. If there are preset connectors and ports for power feeds and electronics then there is no reason that wouldn't work. using hand mounted weapons would functionally make mecha the most massive infantry ever fielded.

Then there are more potential mounting points for systems, over the shoulders, upper arm mounts, megatron style arm mounts, back mounts, etc. The hard points can be fitted with all sorts of weapon systems, back and shoulder mounts are awesome looking for missile launchers and missile racks, while cannons of projectile or energy types can be mounted on arms, again, megatron style. This gear doesn't count against the build weight of the mech.

The Griffin is a 55 ton mech armed with a particle cannon and a ten tube missile launcher. Looking at the illustration, the PPC is being carried in the hands, as the mech has two functional hand actuators, and the missile launcher is perched above the torso in its own contained nacelle. With the new rules I am proposing, the mech could be built up, taking the 12 tons of weight/space these two items take up and removing them from the basic build.

So, there is now almost 25% of the mech's available space left, what to do with all of that? Bigger engines make the mechs faster. It doesn't take much to make an equivalent sized mech faster than a similar mass tank. It can mount a more robust chassis, like mounting the machine with a 65 ton chassis for terms of adding armor. The mech becomes even more damage resistant. While technically only armed with a single medium laser, the Griffin has shoulder mounts and can pack missile launchers, or carry a variety of hand mounted weapons, autocannons and the like. It is already now faster or tougher than a similar tank, but now it has the potential to carry much more firepower as well.

Then there are mission pods, like enhanced radar arrays, or plot devices, stealth suits, etc.

The Build process was inspired by the modular construction system used in the Armored Core series

valadaar:
Hard points or no, a 65 ton mech is a 65 ton mech since you classify it by its combat-loaded, not empty weight. The extra mass used to provide for flexible hard-points may actually reduce the capabilities of the omni-mech.

A 65 ton mech with 12 tons of external ordinance is a 77 ton mech and would match up against a 77 ton tank.

And for that matter, you can add hard-points to a tank as easily as a mech.

Frankly, I've always thought that tanks can - and should - eat mechs for breakfast unless the terrain/etc gave the tank a disadvantage.

In open battle where line of sight rules, Tanks will kill mechs of equal tonnage.

Tank Pros:

1. Concentration of Armor

The simpler, lower-surface area form of the tank is far closer to an optimum form then a mecha, meaning much less material needed to armour to a given thickness. With equal mass dedicated to armour, the tank can have thicker armour.

2. Simpler Design

Modern tanks are built on the same basic plan as later WWI tanks, with less complex mechanical components then a mecha. I cannot speculate how much mass treads take vs legs to provide mobility.

3. Much higher profile

Building tanks with a low profile has been a big deal with making them survivable. Mechs lose on this comparison hands down, as getting into or out of a prone position with battletech-level mechs is far inferior to the 'always prone' nature of tanks.

4. Safer mobility

Unless someone drives a tank over a cliff, they are unlikely to fall, whereas

Cons:

1. As per battletech rules, if you breach the tanks main armor, the tank is toast as effectively all hits are head shots as far as the crew is concerned.

2. No arms.

3. No climbing ability - less flexibility when dealing with very rough terrain. Anti-tank obstacles are much more easily bypassed by mechs then tanks.

4. Don't think it is in the rules, but I would expect that mechs, due to Con #1 (higher surface area/ton) would have better heat dissipation then tanks. Perhaps tanks should have restrictions on the number of heat sinks that can be effectively deployed.

axlerowes:
What rules are using for these tank-mech match ups? As Valadaar points out the rules for the old school battletech favored the mechs, the battletech rules that I am familiar also made tanks much more prone to damage to their drive systems.

Do you not the like the Omni mech system employed by the clans?

valadaar:
Robotech-style mechs with human or near human mobility would go a long way towards evening the score.

Scrasamax:

--- Quote from: valadaar on October 05, 2012, 06:49:08 PM ---Robotech-style mechs with human or near human mobility would go a long way towards evening the score.

--- End quote ---

Increased mobility is a thing I really want to emphasize. The mecha should be used not like tanks, but like 35 foot tall infantry men armed with vehicle sized weapons. It is agile as a man on foot, fast as an automobile, and carrying as much firepower as a tank AND a ground attack aircraft.

As for combat loaded weight versus empty weight, I want to go with a more aircraft feel than a tank feel.

The Warthog is a 12 ton aircraft, and even if it is loaded out to a full payload of 24 tons, it is still a 12 ton aircraft, just heavily loaded.

versus

M1A1 AbramsWeight: 62-69 tons depending on model.

You make a valid point, but I want to pull mecha closer to aircraft and away from tanks. The mech can be built at X weight, and then be configured to carry a variety of weapons, versus all of their gear being built into the frame of the machine. This is generally, there are rules I am looking at for internal mounted weapons versus the external hardpoint gear.

The whole omni-mech schtick didn't really impress me, as it seemed like an artificial bonus for the clans, and the supposed difficulty of the IS adopting omni-tech is arbitrary. That is just my opinion, but I was always Pro-IS and anti-clan.